Story of God, the Story of Us, The: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible: Getting Lost and Found in the Bible [Paperback]

People, even long time Christians, can often find the Bible intimidating to tackle. It's remarkable how many first year seminarians have not actually read the Bible from cover to cover. Of course scripture is inexhaustible with regards to God's truth and it's ability to teach and feed us. But probably the chief reason why we should read the scriptures from cover to cover is to gain an `overview' of the biblical narrative - to understand THE grand narrative if you like.

Sean Gladding has produced a remarkable book. Extremely well written, innovative, creative and yet faithful to the theology and structure of scripture, The Story of God, The Story Of Us reads like a novel, and yet it provides the reader with one of the very best `overviews' of the story of God that I have ever read. The beauty of this book is that it is both at the same time entertaining and a potentially valuable teaching tool.

Regardless of whether you have a P'hD, or a degree in theology or no formal training in the Bible; whether you are a pastor or have been a Christian for a long time or you are just starting your journey of faith this book will be a refreshing, exciting, beneficial and enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

Most of the bible studies I have experienced over the years have dealt with the bible verse by verse, sometimes even word by word, examining the text of the original language and its application. This approach can feel like examining a large canvas by using a microscope to view individual brush strokes. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the detail that we completely miss the whole picture. This can lead to us missing the point of the text.

This book helps us step back from the canvas and see the bigger picture, to see 'The Story of God' unfolding and find our place in that narrative.

Appropriately for a book about the Great Story, this book itself is in narrative form.

We begin sitting with the Captives in Babylon, hearing with them their oral history, how it led to their Captivity and the hope that it will not end there.

We then move forward in time to a gathering of believers where a newcomer enters and hears the continuation of the Story in the life of Jesus.

In the final movement our newcomer has become a believer and begins to relate the story of Revelation.

The book helped me see the through-narrative of the bible. It helped connect the many different 'stories' of scripture together and show their place in the great story. I found the first section in Babylon particularly helpful in this regard.

The bible is a big 'book of books', and 'The Story of God, the Story of Us' helped me see the full story and encouraged me to find my own unique place in it.

This is a book to be read, studied and lived.

My only criticism would be in the use of punctuation. The book frequently has characters quoting scripture in their speech. This leads to some interesting strings of double and single quotes at the end of some sentences. While it might be grammatically correct, I was distracted by some of the punctuation while reading. I found myself going back and analyzing certain passages to work out what quote went with what. This is a minor point however and was only an occasional distraction from getting 'lost and found' in the story.

I lived this book as it came alive in its original format at Mercy Street in Houston, Texas and am so excited to be able to re-live it now that it is in print! Sean is such an amazing story teller - I could sit around the fire and listen to him spin a yarn all day long! He has the unique talent of taking ordinary language and weaving it into a story which comes alive in your ears. It's a beautiful dance of life which paints itself within your mind as you read this exquisitely written work. Thank you, Sean, for sharing your talent with the world like this!!!